Presupposition and Anaphora (review)

The emergence of a variety of dynamic approaches to meaning and to the role of context in its determination constituted one of the most important developments in the field of formal semantics during the 1980s and 1990s. One of the cornerstones of the dynamic semantics paradigm is the analysis of cross sentential anaphora, which is known to be problematic for static approaches. From the seminal contributions of Lauri Karttunen, Irene Heim, Hans Kamp, and others, to current explorations in dynamic logic, the field has also been concerned with the interplay between anaphora and presupposition, a topic which belongs to the semantics/pragmatics interface. Krahmer addresses several topics relating anaphora and presupposition, considers the implications for dynamic semantics, and argues for its critical role in the blurring of the distinction between the fields of semantics and pragmatics. The book also strongly advocates the usefulness of techniques from partial logic in the analysis of the phenomena under consideration. This line of reasoning can be traced back to the Strawsonian treatment of presupposition.

In the second chapter, K summarizes the most important contributions to the analysis of discourse anaphora of the last decades. He also shows how to combine File Card Semantics (FCS) with Discourse Representation Theory (DRT) by defining a meaning preserving map between them. It is well-known that negation and disjunction contexts present a serious problem for dynamic theories of cross-sentential anaphora. K proposes a system called double negation DRT. In this system, the discourse referents which are introduced in the scope of two negations remain accessible for future reference. The interpretation clauses of this system are based on the distinction between positive and negative extensions, a technique borrowed from partial logic. Continuing with the application of partial logic, Ch. 4 explores presupposition, especially its interaction with quantifiers. The author characterizes a partial predicate logic enriched with a presupposition operator and argues for a flexible approach to presupposition projection that incorporates pragmatic constraints. These constraints filter out unwanted readings. In Ch. 5, K develops a presuppositional Montague grammar based on partial interpretation. Similar concerns are explored with respect to DRT in Ch. 6. Finally, Ch. 7 contains some very interesting ideas about determinedness and salience and the role of definite descriptions as presupposition triggers. K argues that definites presuppose existence and determinedness. This latter property is characterized in terms of uniqueness, anaphoricity, familiarity, and salience. He concludes that salience provides the most solid foundation for a unified, general theory of definite noun phrases in discourse, even when incomplete deictic uses are considered.

K’s proposals will be of interest to linguists, logicians, and philosophers alike. On the one hand, he forcefully argues for the use of partial techniques to improve a variety of dynamic systems (FCS, DRT) and to enrich static theories such as Montague semantics. On the other hand, he also proposes an elegant account of the interplay of presupposition and anaphora, especially in the areas of presupposition, quantification, and definiteness.